Ivory-billed wood
peckers from the
1930s pose in Cuba's
National Museum of
Natural History. Once
plentiful, the spe
cies is now believed
extinct, though biol
ogists still search
for survivors. Briefly
freed from the
museum, the skull of
an extinct Cuban
monkey (left), similar
to a South American
species, hints at the
existence of a land
bridge that likely
linked Cuba to South
America 35 to 37
million years ago.The
skull proves that
nonhuman primates
once lived in Cuba.
None survive today.
ATA
Car bea
I
Patchwork Paradise
An archipelago of more than
4,000 islands, Cuba embraces
multiple ecosystems from
mangroves and small coastal
deserts to rain forests. Such
habitat diversity has given rise
to thousands of species of
plants and animals that live
nowhere else on Earth. They
may stand a strong chance of
survival: Fully one-fifth of the
nation lies in protected areas.
Vegetation
I Dry, arable land
Forest and wooded
DEL NORTE
wetland
'ILAD
| Grassland and shrub
® Protected area
t L/AN TIC
o
Biosphere reserve
()
AN
I National park
C Wetland of International
Importance
SHUMEDAL RIO
U World Heritage site
O-CAGUEYl
0
m
50
0km
50
PROTECTEDAREASDATA:UNDPAND NATIONAL
CENTERFORPROTECTEDAREAS,CUBA
VEGETATIONSOURCE:EROSDATACENTER,
SU.S.
GEOLOGICALSURVEY
NATIONALGEOGRAPHICMAPS
ALEJANDRO DE
CUCHILLAS
DEL TOAD
-
rico lurquino
T
6,476ft 1,974m
DESEMBARCO
BACONA
DEL GRANMA
B
CUBA NATURALLY 69
U.S. NAVAL BASE
GUANTANAMO BAY